AU631549B2 - Vehicle passenger seating - Google Patents

Description

SO5845/2 5845/2 1 j/!!O.zaE3p 631549 S F Ret: 98725 FORM COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA PATENTS ACT 1952 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

(ORIGINAL)

FOR OFFICE USE: Class Int Class Complete Specification Lodged: Accepted: Published: Priority: Related Art: Name and Address of Applicant: Flight Equipment Engineering Limited Asheridge Road Chesham Buckinghamshire HP5 2QB UNITED KINGDOM John Frederick Branham Chiltern Place Nupend Nr. Aylesbury Buckinghamshire UNITED KINGDOM Address for Service: Spruson Ferguson, Patent Attorneys Level 33 St Martins Tower, 31 Market Street Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia Complete Specification for the invention entitled: Vehicle Passenger Seating The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to melus 585/3 1 I^r r -;rr~ 1 VEHICLE PASSENGER SEATING Seating for passengers in vehicles is commonly provided on seating units comprisin g two or more seats abreast. Such a seating unit is usually constructed on a support frame comprising two transverse parallel beams, substantia'Ly horizontal in the normal upright position of the seating unit.

The beams are usalally tubes of circular cross section, carried on legs having feet for engaging mountings on the floor of the vehicle. The transverse parallel beams are joined by two or more spaced parallel longitudinal members, generally horizontal in the normal upright position of the seating unit and perpendicular to the beams. There is usually a longitudinal member at each side of a seating unit and at least one between each pair of adjacent seats.

The transverse parallel beams enter or pass through bores in the longitudinal members, in which they are a close fit to provide a rigid structure. The S bottom seat cushions are supported by the transverse parallel beams and/or the longitudinal members. The longitudinal members are extended rearwardly and upwardly from their bores through which the rearmost of the transverse parallel beams passes, to provide mountings, usually pivotal, for the backrests for the seats, One example of such a support frame is described in British Patent Specification No. 2 035 790.

Side armrests are usually mounted on the longitudinal members at the sides of the support frame and intermediate armrests for defining and separating the seats are mounted on longitudinal members between adjacent seats or on parts of the frame adjacent to those longitudinal members.

The side armrest at a side of the seating unit which is to be adjacent to an aisle of a vehicle in which it .s fitted must have sufficient strength 7 to resist the leverage forces applied by passengers entering and leaving seats as well as impact forces which may be applied by passengers movirz in the aisle or by trollies used to serve passengers occupying the seats. Such a side armrest is usually bolted to the flank of the side longitudinal member.

The forces mentioned produce bending and shearing loads on the bolts and to resist these forces the bolts, the side armrest and the side longitudinal member must be of massive construction. To conceal the constructional details and give a neat appearance, it is usual to fit a shaped faring of -2 reinforced plastics material over at least a part of the aisle side armrest and the longitudinal member on which it is mounted.

According to this invention, a side longitudinal member for assembly with transverse members to form a support frame for a vehicle seating unit, having a recess in its side which is to be laterally outermost when assembled with the transverse members, the recess having a wall enclosing apertures in the longitudinal member for receiving the ends of the transverse members and the edge of the wall defining the mouth of the recess being adapted to receive a separate panel to fit in the mouth of the recess to conceal the apertures.

The edge of the wall of the recess is preferably undercut so that the panel can be snapped into the recess and will be self-retaining once fitted in the recess.

This arrangement simplifies the construction and assembly of a 15 seating unit, giving a neat apearance without the necessity for the usual faring and enabling the overall width of seating units to be reduced compared with similar units having conventionally constructed frames.

Preferably the side longitudinal member is formed integrally with at least a major part of an armrest. This also simplifies the construction and enables increased strength to be provided without unduly massive construction.

Constructional details for securing the side longitudinal member to other parts of the frame and for mounting other parts of the seat, which would normally be exposed, may be accommodated within the recess and 25 concealed by the separate panel. The recess may also be utilised to accommodate other elements of the seating unit, such as mechanical control cables, electric cables and electrical components such as components of an audio system.

The invention includes a vehicle seating unit including at least one longitudinal member as described and a vehicle including such a seating unit.

The invention not only reduces the number of parts in the seating unit and thereby provides savings in assembly time and labour, but provides, in the case of a side armrest, a structure capable of withstanding the RLF/02031 3 aforementioned forces with a significant saving of weight and width, measured in the lateral direction of the seating unit, so that increased space may be provided for passengers. As there is no bolting of armrest to longitudinal member, a neater appearance results and it is not necessary to use a faring over the longitudinal member, as hitherto.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a vehicle seating unit, Figure 2 is a side elevation of a side longitudinal member of the 0 support frame of the seating unit shown in Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a section on the line A-A of Figure 2.

The seating unit shown in Figure 1 is constructed on a support frame comprising two tubular transverse parallel beams 1, 2, of circular cross section, carried on legs 3, 4 having feet 5, 6 respectively for engaging the floor of a vehicle and braced by a diagonal strut 7. The beams 1, 2 are joined by two or more spaced generally horizontal longitudinal members, one of which, 8, is shown at the near side of the seating unit. The other longitudinal members are of a more conventional shape in this seating unit, but they could be similar to the member 8. For simplicity, only one other longitudinal member 9 is shown in the concealed detail. There is a longitudinal member at each side and between each pair of adjacent seats provided by the unit. The parallel beams 1, 2 are closely fitted in bores i 11 in the longitudinal member 8 and similar bores in the other longitudinal members, thus providing a rigid structure and they are secured by clamping screws (not shown) in the longitudinal members. Bottom seat cushions 12 are Jsupported by the parallel beams 1, 2. All the longitudinal members are extended rearwardly and upwardly from their bores 10, through which the rearmost parallel beam 1 passes, to provide pivotal mountings 13 for the backrests 14 for the seats. The side longitudinal member 8, however, is further extended upwardly and forwardly to provide an integral armrest part with an integral supporting strut 16.

4 -4- The side longitudinal member 8, which will be adjacent to an aisle when the seating unit is fitted in a vehicle, is shown in more detail in Figures 2 and 3. Figure 2 shows the side of the member which will be laterally outermost when it is mounted in the support frame. The open ends of the bores 10, 11 which are to receive the ends of the transverse beams 1, 2 and of the bore 13 in which the backrest 14 is to be mounted are visible on this side and in previous seating constr uctions they would be covered by a shaped faring in the finished seat. Instead of this, the member 8 has a shallow recess 17 with a wall enclosing these constructional details having an undercut peripheral lip 18. When the seating unit is assembled, a separate flat panel 19, shown in chain-dotted lines, is fitted in this recess, being of such dimensions that it may be snapped into place behind the lip 18 and will be self-retaining. This not only gives a neat appearance to the finished seat but is cheaper and more easily fitted than the usual shaped faring. It can also be replaced quite easily. Further advantages may be utilised by vehicle operators, for example to identify different rows of seats by fitting differently coloured panels 19; to give an individual appearance to a vehicle by fitting panels printed with the insignia of a charterer of the vehicle; or to advertise by fitting panels printed with advertising matter. The longitucinal member 8 itself may also be coloured, for example by anodising if it is of aluminium or an alloy or by self colouring if it is of a plastics/fibre composite material.

Six holes 20 are formed in the base of the recess 17 to receive fastenings for mounting a buffer bar 21, as shown in Figure 1, and the panel 19 has aligned holes through which the fastenings can pass, so that impact forces applied by passengers or service trolleys are transmitted directly to the member 8.

An upholstered armrest top 22 is mounted on the armrest support being secured in bores 23 in its top surface. A hole 24 provides for the passage of control cables, for example for the seat recline mechanism and for audio supply, into the armrest top 22. The member 8 also has the usual bores for mounting a table 26, 27 for a seat belt anchorage, 28 for mounting the baggage bar 29, and 30 for anchoring the seat recline mechanism. In the N 2

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4i finished seating unit, all these bores and elements fitted in them are concealed by the panel 19 as shown in Figure 1.

Although in the embodiment shown in the drawings the longitudinal member 8 is formed integrally with only the major part 15, 16 of the armrest, its upper part could be shaped to provide the whole or substantially the whole of an armrest. In the latter case some padding would be mounted on its upper surface.

Claims (5)

1. A side longitudinal member for assembly with transverse members to form a support frame for a vehicle seating unit, having a recess in its side which is to be laterally outermost when assembled with the transverse members, the recess having a wall enclosing apertures in the longitudinal member for receiving the ends of the transverse members and the edge of the wall defining the mouth of the recess being adapted to receive a separate panel to fit in the mouth of the recess to conceal the apertures.

2. A side longitudinal member as claimed in claim 1 wherein the edge of the wall of the recess is undercut to enable the panel to be snapped into the undercut so as to be self-retaining once so fitted.

3. A side longitudinal member as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 formed integrally with at least a major part of an armrest of the seating unit. o s4. A support frame for a vehicle seating unit including at least one side longitudinal member as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3. ,r 5. A vehicle seating unit including a support frame as claimed in claim 4.

6. A vehicle including a seating unit as claimed in claim A side longitudinal member for a support frame for a vehicle seating unit, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to •and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.

8. A support frame for a vehicle seating unit including at least 25 one longitudinal member as claimed in claim 7. S, 9. A vehicle seating unit including a support frame as claimed in claim 8. A vehicle seating unit including the support frame of claim 8, the vehicle seating unit being substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this TWENTY-NINTH day of SEPTEMBER 1992 Flight Equipment Engineering Limited and John Frederick Branham Patent Attorneys for the Applicants SPRUSON FERGUSON RLF/02031